BACKGROUND: Dietary pattern analysis provides important evidence revealing diet-disease relationships. It may be especially useful in areas less well researched, such as diet and hypertension in clinical populations. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to identify the association between dietary patterns and blood pressure (BP) in a sample of overweight adults volunteering for a clinical trial for weight loss. DESIGN: This cross-sectional analysis used baseline data from the HealthTrack study, a 12-month randomized controlled trial...

OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between fruit and vegetable access in the community and change in fruit and vegetable consumption among participants in community-based health promotion programmes. DESIGN: Fruit and vegetable consumption and perceived access to fresh fruit and vegetables were measured by self-administered questionnaires at programme start, end and 1-year follow-up. Community produce availability was determined by grocery store assessments measuring the display space devoted to fruit and vegetable offerings, as well as price, variety and freshness...

INTRODUCTION: Few studies have assessed how people's perceptions of their neighborhood environment compare with objective measures or how self-reported and objective neighborhood measures relate to consumption of fruits and vegetables. METHODS: A telephone survey of 4,399 residents of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, provided data on individuals, their households, their neighborhoods (self-defined), their food-environment perceptions, and their fruit-and-vegetable consumption...

There is a lack of validated and reliable instruments on perception of the food environment, in particular for rural environments. We estimated the test-retest reliability of a questionnaire assessing perceptions of the food environment. A total of 101 primary food shoppers in South Carolina were interviewed by phone to assess their perceptions of the food environment and presence of different food outlet types in their neighborhood. The survey was repeated approximately one month after the initial administration...

OBJECTIVE: Excessive consumption of discretionary foods/beverages in the Australian population has been identified, increasing the risk of obesity and chronic disease. The present study aimed to examine the associations between demographic, anthropometric and dietary factors and the consumption of discretionary foods, discretionary beverages and discretionary foods/beverages combined. DESIGN: Discretionary food/beverage consumption reported in two 24 h recalls was analysed, stratified by gender, age, socio-economic status, country of birth, BMI, waist circumference, and fruit and vegetable intakes...

CONTEXT: Environmental, policy, and societal changes are important contributors to the rapid rise in obesity over the past few decades, and there has been substantial progress toward identifying environmental and policy factors related to eating and physical activity that can point toward solutions. This article is a status report on research on physical activity and food environments, and it suggests how these findings can be used to improve diet and physical activity and to control or reduce obesity...

Cross-sectional studies suggest that neighborhood socioeconomic (SES) disadvantage is associated with obesogenic food environments. Yet, it is unknown how exposure to neighborhood SES patterning through adulthood corresponds to food environments that also change over time. We used latent class analysis (LCA) to classify participants in the U.S.-based Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults study [n=5,114 at baseline 1985-1986 to 2005-2006] according to their longitudinal neighborhood SES residency patterns (upward, downward, stable high and stable low)...

The lack of demonstrated impact of the South LA fast food ban suggests that the policy was too narrowly crafted. Healthy food deserts like South LA are simultaneously unhealthy food swamps; and face myriad interrelated social, economic, and environmental challenges. The food environment is a complex social network impacted by social, economic and political factors at the neighborhood, regional, national, and international levels. Banning one subtype of unhealthy food venue is not likely to limit the availability of unhealthy processed and packaged foods nor result in increased access to affordable healthy foods...

PURPOSE: Understanding how to mitigate the present black-white obesity disparity in the United States is a complex issue, stemming from a multitude of intertwined causes. An appropriate but underused approach to guiding policy approaches to this problem is to account for this complexity using simulation modeling. METHODS: We explored the efficacy of a policy that improved the quality of neighborhood schools in reducing racial disparities in obesity-related behavior and the dependence of this effect on social network influence and norms...

Residents of poor and minority neighborhoods have less access to healthy, affordable food than their counterparts in more advantaged neighborhoods, and these disparities translate into population-level health disparities by race and socioeconomic status. Current research debates the extent of these disparities and how they translate into unequal health outcomes, but it has paid less attention to the micro-level decision-making processes and strategies residents employ to access food in the context of constrained personal and neighborhood resources...

BACKGROUND: In the U.S., poverty has been linked to both obesity and disease burden. Latinos in the U.S. are disproportionately affected by poverty, and over the past 10 years, the percentage of overweight U.S. Latino youth has approximately doubled. Buying low-cost food that is calorie-dense and filling has been linked to obesity. Low-income individuals tend to favor energy-dense foods because of their low cost, and economic decisions made during food purchasing have physiologic repercussions...

BACKGROUND: The obesity epidemic among children and youth, and the social gradient in this relationship, could be related to differential exposure to food sources in primary environments. Although the positive association between area-level deprivation and fast-food outlets offering high-calorie foods has been well documented, few studies have evaluated food sources around school settings. PURPOSE: This study evaluated the relationships among food sources around schools, neighborhood income, and commercial density...

The aim of this study is to examine the determinants of fruit and vegetable (F&V) consumption with the application of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) and the additional variables of self-schema, habit and self-regulation. While it has been shown that those with a healthy-eater self-schema are more likely to carry out their healthy dietary intentions, the underlying processes that influence this relationship have received limited empirical attention. Recent findings on dietary behaviour suggest that self-regulatory ability and habit strength may have dissimilar effects on the intention-behaviour relationship within schematics and non-schematics...

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Existing theoretical frameworks suggest that healthy eating is facilitated by an individual's ability, motivation and environmental opportunities. It is plausible, although largely untested, that the importance of factors related to ability and motivation differ under varied environmental conditions. This study aimed to determine whether the magnitude of associations between fruit and vegetable consumption and intrapersonal factors (ability and motivation) were modified by differences in access to stores selling these items (environmental opportunities)...

BACKGROUND: Environmental, social and individual factors influence eating patterns, which in turn affect the risk of many chronic diseases. This study aimed to estimate associations between environmental factors and the consumption of fruit and vegetables among adults in a Brazilian urban context. METHODS: Data from the surveillance system for risk factors for chronic diseases (VIGITEL) of Brazilian Ministry of Health were used. A cross-sectional telephone survey (VIGITEL - 2008-2010) was carried out with 5826 adults in the urban area of Belo Horizonte...

OBJECTIVE: Fruit and vegetable (F&V) intake is influenced by behavioural and environmental factors, but these have rarely been assessed simultaneously. We aimed to quantify the relative influence of supermarket availability, perceptions of the food environment and shopping behaviour on F&V intake. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study. SETTING: Eight counties in South Carolina, USA, with verified locations of all supermarkets. SUBJECTS: A telephone survey of 831 household food shoppers ascertained F&V intake with a seventeen-item screener, primary food store location, shopping frequency and perceptions of healthy food availability, and supermarket availability was calculated with a geographic information system...

OBJECTIVE: The National Cancer Institute (Rockville, Md) has launched a nationwide initiative--5 A Day for Better Health--to encourage consumption of fruits and vegetables. Because the tastes and culinary uses of fruits and vegetables differ, however, it is not known whether a general 5-A-Day message is an effective intervention strategy. This study examined whether there are differences between the demographic and psychosocial correlates of fruit and vegetable intakes. DESIGN: Data are from the Washington State Cancer Risk Behavior Survey (1995-1996), a cross-sectional, random-digit-dial telephone survey representative of the adult population of Washington State...

A better understanding of factors associated with healthful eating practices can improve the design and evaluation of dietary intervention programs. Up to now, little information has been available about these factors in high-risk but healthy populations. This article presents findings of a study of psychosocial factors, including stage of change, and their relationship to patterns of consumption of dietary fat, fiber, and fruits and vegetables in a population of males at increased risk of colorectal cancer...

BACKGROUND: Daily fruit and vegetable consumption in black men is low and has remained relatively unchanged during the past 20 years. OBJECTIVE: To examine awareness of fruit and vegetable recommendations promoted by federal agencies and correlates of fruit and vegetable consumption among an urban and mostly immigrant population of adult black men. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study analyzing baseline data (n=490) from a randomized controlled trial...